#24 · Tuesday, 30 December 2025

Ladder answer

• PRINT 5 letters
• PROTEIN 7 letters — adds two letters to the rung below
• OPERATING 9 letters — adds two letters to the rung below

PRINT sits inside PROTEIN, which sits inside OPERATING — the two letters added at each rung are the whole puzzle. Scrambles shown that day: IRNTP · PTERONI · GOPETIARN.

LockCode answer: 4576

The clues and what each one tells you:

1. 7536: 2 in the right place, 1 in the wrong place — 3 of 7, 5, 3, 6 are in the code.
2. 7619: 0 in the right place, 2 in the wrong place — 2 of 7, 6, 1, 9 are in the code.
3. 9357: 0 in the right place, 2 in the wrong place — 2 of 9, 3, 5, 7 are in the code.
4. 0941: 0 in the right place, 1 in the wrong place — 1 of 0, 9, 4, 1 are in the code.
5. After all clues, 3 codes remain possible.

With 3 candidates left, a good second guess splits them by feedback so the third guess is forced. Read the LockCode strategy guide for the method.